• For the first time in Iceland and even in the world, the Akureyri Disease Center has the possibility of a more comprehensive government service for ME patients.

• The Akureyri Disease Center is the first centre in health care that is located outside the capital.

• This is the first cooperation between the health care institution and a hospital in Iceland.

Today, 16 August, in the presence of a large crowd at the Akureyri Junior Collage (Menntaskólinn á Akureyri), the Akureyri Disease Center was officially established with the signature of the Minister of Health, Willum Þór Þórsson, and the directors of the Akureyri Hospital (SAk) and the Healthcare Institution of North Iceland (HSN).

In May 2023, the Minister of Health Willum Þór Þórsson decided to entrust SAk and HSN to work together on establishing a knowledge and advisory centre on ME desease. A committee on behalf of SAk and HSN delivered an opinion last autumn and since then, work has been done on developing services for ME patients and those with long-term COVID-19.

“Akureyri Disease Center is in many ways a unique project on a national and even global scale and we are very proud to participate in this collaboration,” says Hildigunnur Svavarsdóttir, CEO of SAk. “The establishment of the center presents great opportunities. With it we can better manage the registration of ME disease and build a database on ME and chronic COVID-19, which gives our researchers unparalleled opportunities for research and increased knowledge of the disease for the benefit of ME patients.”

“The establishment of the Akureyri Disease Center is a much needed project, but we have seen a significant increase in the number of people diagnosed with ME in recent years, especially following Covid,” says Jón Helgi Björnsson, CEO of HSN. “It will therefore be crucial to obtain government funding for the operation, which will allow us to begin to increase our knowledge of the nature of ME and in the process develop a more comprehensive and intensive service for ME patients nationwide, which is a great call for.”

About ME

About ME

Myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) is a chronic disease that can cause severe impairment of quality of life. ME has a special connection to Akureyri, but 75 years ago a disease that came to be known as the Akureyri disease was spreading here. Many people who became ill with that disease had ME for life. It has been clear for a while now that many people who have become ill with COVID-19 have long-term symptoms and some of them develop ME.

Foreign studies have shown that the quality of life of many ME patients can be much lower than in patients with other aggressive diseases, but even so, the service to this patient group is not in accordance with the severity of the disease. There have been calls from the community and patient associations that the service must be improved and the establishment of the Akureyri Clinic is part of this.